Toyota Vietnam apologized to local customers Friday for the technical problems that led to a massive recall of nearly 66,000 cars, the biggest ever in the country.

The move came two weeks after the company first admitted to three flaws in Innova models. It said some cars released to the market had over-responsive braking systems while other had improperly mounted camber bolts and seats.

At the time, the carmaker had said only 8,830 would need to be recalled for repair.

But on Friday, the number of faulty cars reached 65,703 units of both Fortuner and Innova models, even higher than the estimate of the engineer who helped exposed the case to the public.

Le Van Tach, the whistleblower, previously revealed that Toyota Vietnam had sold around 60,000 faulty vehicles in the country.

Innova, a seven-seater model, is one of the best selling cars in Vietnam, and is used widely by many taxi companies.

An official of the Vietnam Register, a government body responsible for checking vehicle quality, said the recall, though not the first in Vietnam, would be the largest ever.

Toyota Vietnam said it will continue to check if there are still more cars that need to be fixed.

The company said it will take between 12 minutes and two hours to fix each of the three flaws.

Vietnam News Agency reported on Friday that the Vietnam Register will inspect Toyota Vietnam's production facilities to find what caused the flaws.